How do people grow? Research suggests that about 40% of our day each day is spent acting out habits, rather than making decisions. Even the ways we think tend to be habitual, our thoughts becoming self-reinforcing due to confirmation bias. Growth, therefore, is almost always a question of habit change – people grow as they exchange one habit for another. In our work supporting faculty and staff, it’s helpful to reframe our thinking in terms of habits:
The great thing about habits, as James Clear has written, is that they build on themselves in a Domino Effect. People who are successful in adding one new habit to their routine tend to feel more confident amplifying that habit or adding another new one. Adoption of new habits actually shifts our sense of identity – we start to see ourselves differently, which in turn makes it easier to take on other habits.
The key to achieving this virtuous cycle is starting small and easy, selecting small actions, building them into habits, and then enlarging them and stretching them. Start by running a mile each day and then work towards a marathon. Start by reading 10 pages per night of a non-fiction book, and work towards being the kind of person who reads 50 books per year. The human brain is naturally averse to working harder than it needs to, but we can trick it by making small steps and turning them into habits.
We get ourselves into trouble, though when our own layers of ambition, shame, impatience, and guilt drive us to aim for habits that are too large in scope. We aim to run 5 miles a day and then quit after a week because it hurts too much. We don’t read anything for a few nights and decide our goal of 50 books this year is impossible. “Maybe I’m not a reader after all,” we think.
Especially at a time when everything seems impossibly hard, leveraging the Domino Effect of habits is one of the most effective ways to grow or to support the growth of others.
The growth goals faculty and staff set are often grounded in habits — the way they have been habituated to think (or not think) about DEI, their first instincts every time they design a unit or lesson, the ways they respond to tough moments in the classroom, the internalized patterns they have for who they call on in class, or the approaches they have towards tough moments in collaborative relationships.
Here are some tips for bringing a habits lens, and especially a focus on the Domino Effect, to your Folio work:
We love habits, and think they’re a “missing link” to professional growth. Schedule a consultation with our team to discuss what habit-building might look like at your school.